by Lynn Cahoon
“I don’t know.” He cut into his steak. “Perfectly cooked. I thought maybe you and I and Josh and Maggie could do something together.”
“Like a date?” This was killing her. She wanted to tell him so bad, but she knew didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to be tempted to change her mind. She didn’t want to risk her heart.
He grinned. “Yep, like a date.”
She took a fork full of lobster and dumped it into the butter. She didn’t look up as she answered. “We’ll see.”
CHAPTER 12
Brad reached over to the side of his bed. Empty. Either Destiny had never come to bed or she was already up and getting breakfast started. He sniffed. Coffee and bacon. Smiling, he gently lifted himself out of the bed and grabbed his crutches. He looked down at the satin boxers. She wouldn’t mind him not getting dressed. And maybe they could do some creative lovemaking in the kitchen. He’d never made love to anyone in the kitchen before. He laughed. Actually, Destiny was the first woman he’d ever had sex with in his house. Typically, with other women it had been her house or a motel.
He never brought people home. It gave them the wrong idea. Like he wanted them to stay.
He paused in the doorway of the kitchen. “Don’t overcook that bacon. Crispy, not burnt.”
“Relax, I’ve been cooking bacon since I was ten.” A strange woman turned and looked at him, a smile growing on her lips. “Well, hello, Mr. Happy.”
Brad blushed and looked down at his now fading erection. “Who are you?”
“Jonny Carpenter. I work with Destiny. She asked me to fill in.” She turned back to the stove. “She didn’t tell me you liked to wander around naked.”
“I’m not naked.” Well, that was almost true. He did have something covering his privates, even if it wasn’t keeping his privates…private. “So when is she coming back? Did she have to go to Coeur d’Alene again?”
The woman didn’t answer for a couple of long seconds. “I told her this was a bad idea. Why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll tell you what’s going on?”
“You can tell me now.” Brad felt his blood chill. He wanted to sink into a chair but he held his back straight.
“Fine, I’ll give you the short version. She’s gone. I’m finishing out the last week of our contract. Your mom knows all about it.” She turned and looked at him. “If you want to eat breakfast in here, you are going to have to get dressed. I can’t eat with you looking all fine and everything.”
Brad left the kitchen, banging his leg on the doorway as he spun around. Even in his anger, that pain registered. He slowed and made his way to the soon-to-be-again library. Plopping down on the bed, he picked up his phone. A text message from Destiny waited for him.
She could have told him last night. He read it aloud, not believing the words. “I’m on a plane so you won’t get this until I have cell service in Boise. Jonny will take care of you for the next week. Let her know if you need her to stay around and she’ll work something out with your mother. I’ve keyed her number into your phone. Brad, I want you to know that for me, it was never casual.”
So this was all about his stupid comment that morning. He’d seen the hurt on her face, but he hadn’t taken back the words. He hadn’t even known what to say. Was he in love with her? Or was she, as she suspected, just another conquest? He slowly dressed for the day. Jose was coming for him at ten and he’d planned to work a half day. Time to get back in the swing of real life.
When he was dressed, he looked at the Tolkien book sitting on his table side. He picked the leather bound copy up and threw it across the room.
“Why are you fidgeting?” Sandy Castle reached over and put a hand on his leg, stopping the bouncing. They all sat in the too-straight chairs in front of the fish tank. Why doctors’ offices always had fish tanks, he didn’t know. He focused on an extra-large goldfish swimming by the front of the tank, watching them watch him. “Whatever the doctor says, we’ll get through it.”
Maggie and Mom had insisted on coming with him for his final appointment with Doctor Roberts. He’d been going to Spokane for therapy for the last couple of months and while he was there last week, he’d stopped by the hospital to do so many x-rays, he was pretty sure he still glowed from the radiation hit. At the hospital, he’d seen Destiny. She’d been talking with a tall man, walking through the hallway in front of the elevator. The doors closed just as he saw them turn toward the outer door. New boyfriend? Boss? Just someone trying to get her attention?
He pushed the questions aside. It didn’t matter. He’d messed up that relationship. He’d taken her for granted when really, he should have held her tight so she wouldn’t go.
“Brad? Are you okay?” Now his mother sounded concerned.
He put on a smile he didn’t feel and stretched out his arms across the back of the chairs. Then he lied. “Sorry, Mom. I was thinking about the Boise Wine Festival. I sure hope Doc gives me a clean bill of health so Maggie can stop pretending like she knows anything about wine.”
“Hey, I’m doing a great job at the festivals. Unlike you, people like me.” Maggie poked him in the side. “You make people want to keep walking past the booth. You’ve been a real grump ever since…”
Maggie paused and Brad knew exactly the point where in his sister’s eyes he’d become a jerk. When Destiny left. But what she didn’t know was he was a jerk long before that. Destiny leaving just proved the point.
A nurse opened a door to the side of the reception desk. “Brad? You want to come back?”
He stood and his mother and sister followed. He was still slow, but he’d walked without a cane for the last week, a feat he didn’t think would ever happen. When they got settled in the examination room, the nurse took his vitals and then the doctor walked in.
“How’s my favorite patient?” Doctor Roberts smiled and nodded to the women.
Brad shrugged. “I don’t know. Tell me who’s your favorite and I’ll call them and see.”
“You’re a jokester.” Doctor Roberts sat in front of the computer and scrolled through the notes. “Your therapist recommends you go a few more weeks, but apparently, you’ve already told them you are too busy?”
“I’ve got a business to run. Besides, the things I’m doing there, I can do at home. I have a gym at the house.” Brad nodded to the computer. “What does your magic machine tell you about my back? Any ongoing issues?”
He walked toward him and lifted up the back of Brad’s shirt. He poked and then put his cold stethoscope on his back. “Deep breath.”
Brad followed instructions, but the fact the doctor hadn’t answered his question was began to bother him. He waited until he sat back down on his chair. “Well?”
“For someone who wrapped his car around a mountain just a few months ago, you’re healing extremely well. I think the original back issue we saw on x-ray must have been muscle swelling. From what I see today, you should be fine.” He looked at the chart. “Your physical therapist did an excellent job of keeping your strength up while you healed. Maybe she could work with you for a while longer.”
“Destiny doesn’t work for me anymore.” He bit the words out.
His mother put a hand on his shoulder. “She took a job with Landue Health. I believe they’re opening a new clinic this month.”
“Oh, I’ve heard good things about the place from their marketer.” The doctor ran his hands down Brad’s leg. “I still can’t believe how fast you recovered. When I saw you in the emergency room that night, I thought it would be a long road back.”
“He’s stubborn.” Maggie gave him a quick hug.
As they moved their way into the parking lot, Maggie looked at her brother. “Let’s go grab a bite to eat.”
“Sure.” He needed to get out of this funk. Losing one woman wasn’t the end of the world. There were a lot of fish in the sea.
As they drove out of the parking lot, Maggie slowed at a large glass building. The construction was new since he’d been at this part of t
he hospital complex. A sign over the door read, Landue Health.
“Just drive.” He leaned back into the seat, closing his eyes. He didn’t want to take a chance of even a quick glimpse. Sure, you’re over her, that’s why you can’t see her without getting a pit in your stomach.
“We could go in and visit. I bet she’d be glad to see us.” Maggie hesitated. “At least she’d be glad to see me and Mom.”
“Don’t torture your brother.”
Brad felt his mother’s gentle pat on his leg. And for a minute, he fought back tears. Tears for what could have been.
By the time they’d had lunch and driven back from Spokane, he was wiped out. That was his main problem, he hadn’t regained his energy. He paused at the open car door and leaned inside. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Do you need us to come in and make you dinner or something?” His mother patted his cheek.
“I’ve got soup in the freezer. I’ll be fine.” He’d let Jonny go as soon as he’d gotten cleared by the doctor to be alone. Since that time, he’d been surviving on the soup that Destiny had frozen from the overabundance of food Maggie had sent during the weeks he was laid up. He was almost out of frozen and would either have to start cooking or ordering in.
“We’ll see you on Sunday? Mark and Abbie are having the family over since the house is finally done.” His mother had a hold of his shirt and wasn’t letting go.
He pried her hand away and kissed it. “Of course. I’ll be there with bells on.” He waved to Maggie and then made his way to the front door. The car remained sitting there, idling;, he could hear the engine. He unlocked the door, turned and waved to the women watching him to make sure he made it inside.
He sank into a recliner in the living room, turned on the television, and promptly fell asleep.
***
Destiny looked around the crowded waiting room. Her staff was efficiently handling all the appointments easily. She estimated they had served more clients this week than she had in the entire time St. Joseph’s Physical Therapy had been open. A vase of fresh daisies sat at the counter. She took off the card. “These are lovely. Who sent them?”
“We didn’t look. The card’s addressed to you.” Jonny had been one of the first people she’d hired. “Maybe the ogre figured out where you were?”
Destiny paused before she opened the card. Brad had been on radio silence since she left. A fact that told her all she needed to know. He didn’t care. If she opened the card and the flowers were from Brad, she’d be sucked in all over again. But she had to know. She read the card, trying not to let her disappointment show. Thanks for everything. I couldn’t have done it better myself. Martin Landue.
“So the boss is impressed. Does this mean you’ll get a big fat bonus?” Jonny put a pen away that she’d been playing with.
“No, it means I still have a job.” She nodded to the back. “Let me know when the linen supplier gets here. They shorted us on our original order and I need to find out when they’re delivering the rest.”
“Keep cracking the whip.” Jonny turned toward the older woman walking up to the desk. “How can I help you?”
Destiny didn’t know what was wrong with her. Brad Castle had been on her mind all week. Ever since she’d thought she’d seen him taking an elevator at the hospital, she hadn’t been able to shake his memory out of her head. Yesterday, she’d been sitting at her office desk, looking out the window when a car had slowed in front of the building. She would have sworn Brad had been in the back seat, looking toward her. Then today, she imagined he’d sent her the flowers.
“Get used to it,” she muttered to the empty office. “That chapter of your life is over.”
A package sat on her desk. Probably a delivery that should have gone to central supply. She opened the box and pulled out five leather-bound books. The Hobbit, all three of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the last, not as popular, The Silmarillion. A card lay on the bottom. This time she knew who sent it. She had no doubt.
She opened the card and read the short inscription. “For your office library. Just in case you get bored.” He’d hand-signed it.
Nothing else, no thanks for giving up weeks of your life. No I’m sorry I’m a complete jerk. Just a gift. She opened The Fellowship of the Rings up to the last page they’d read together. The scouting party had been fighting. Frodo and his hobbit companions were not enjoying the adventure as much as they’d hoped. Even Gandalf had left the troop for a while. Their world was in chaos. Kind of like what had happened between her and Brad.
She picked up the books, set them on the bookshelf by her couch, and threw the box and the card in the trash. Anger seethed through her. How could he be so casual about the whole thing? Pushing aside the strong desire to call Brad, she returned to her desk and working on her overflowing email.
The next week, a new box arrived. This time with the entire Robert Jordan, “Wheel of Time” series. These weren’t leather bound, but there were fourteen spanking brand new hardbacks. The complete series. This time the sentiment on the card was a little longer. She read it to Jonny who had brought the box into Destiny’s office. I know you enjoy Jordan’s work. I hope this finds you enjoying your new situation. Brad.
“Situation? I thought the man was a charmer? This seems very stilted and uncertain.” Jonny put the books on the shelf next to the Tolkien ones. “Do you think he’s trying to say he’s still interested?”
“I don’t think Brad Castle ever begged for anything in his life. I don’t think he’d start now, not on my account.”
Jonny took the box from her desk and paused at the doorway. “I don’t know. He isn’t going the easy way with flowers and candy. He’s actually giving you something he knows you might like. Maybe you should call him. Just to thank him for the books.”
“And maybe you should mind your own business. We still on for dinner tonight?”
Jonny nodded. “But I’m meeting a guy for drinks at nine. Do you want to come along?”
“No, thank you. I have enough on my plate to keep me busy. I don’t need to be juggling all the single lifestyle you seem to enjoy.” Destiny moved her mouse to awaken her computer and went back to work. She only looked over at the bookshelves a few times.
The next Friday, a new box arrived. Jonny ran into her office with the cardboard offering in her hand, her brown curls bouncing. “Open it. I want to see what he sent you this time.”
“Maybe it’s not from Brad.” Destiny knew it was, but she didn’t want to hope. The guy certainly had an unusual way of courting if that was what he was doing.
She opened the box and started laughing. Several cookbooks were in the box, one on salads, one on seafood, and several more generic.
“That’s not what I was expecting.” Jonny held up the Guide to Decadent Desserts. “Although this chocolate thing looks amazing.”
Destiny dug through the box, setting the books aside. She looked up at her friend, bewildered. “There’s no card.”
“That’s because—“ Brad stood in the doorway “—when I asked Maggie what cookbooks she’d suggest, she told me to stop being such a loser and come down here myself
“I’m sorry Miss Brooks,” said the front desk clerk beside him, fingers wringing in distress. “He said he had an appointment.”
“No worries, Holli.” She glanced at Jonny. “Come in and have a seat, Brad. Jonny was just leaving.”
“I can take a hint.” Jonny put her hand on his arm as she passed by him. “About time.”
Brand smiled at the retreating Jonny and then moved toward the office chair. His gait was slow but it didn’t look like he had a limp.
“You’re looking good,” she said as she walked around the desk and sat next to him in the other chair. She glanced at the door, but Jonny had already closed it to give them privacy.
“The place is amazing. You did a great job.” He looked around the office. “This feels like you too.”
“It’s easy to do a great job when you work f
or a company with deep pockets.” She leaned back in her chair, studying him. “Why are you here, Brad? Do you want to set up a physical therapy plan?”
“No. For your information Doc Roberts says I’m good to go all on my own. The back thing was a fluke and you can see how well my leg and ankle healed. I won’t win any sexy legs contests, but that’s not my style anyway.” He rubbed his hands on his pants.
“You didn’t answer my question.” She watched him as he took a deep breath and leaned forward, almost touching her arm.
“I came to ask you on a date. A real date, dinner and drinks or a movie, whatever you want.” He coughed. “We could even go see the tigers if you want to.”
She laughed. “You hate the tigers. Maggie told me.”
“I’ll admit, I’m not fond of the mangy cats. But if that’s what you want to do, I’ll do it.” He stared at her. “Whatever you want to do. Please go out with me.”
“And then what? What are you looking for, Brad? A good time? A diversion?” She shook her head. “I’m not one of your girls who just wants to be arm candy. I want a real relationship.”
“Good, because that’s what I want too. I won’t be an idiot and ask you to marry me today.” He took her hand. “But if you find you like spending time with me, without having to drug me and help me to the bathroom, I could see me asking in, oh, a week or two.”
“At least I’d know what kind of a pain you’ll be when you grow old.” She smiled at him. Her heart was bursting and she wanted to say yes, but something held her back. “We didn’t have such a good start of things. What if it goes bad again?”
“Love isn’t automatic. You have to work at it. I’m sure there will be times you hate me. As long as we talk them out and keep going forward, we’ll be fine. I should have listened when you said you had the job offer. Instead, I fell back into the work too hard, all the time mode. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.” He pushed a strand of hair away from her face. “I love you Destiny. And I’ve never said that to any other woman.”
